As is known, all products to be sold to consumers or producers in Turkey are under the responsibility and control of certain ministries, depending on their nature. Responsibility and control mean that the rules regarding these products are determined, implemented, and enforced by the relevant ministry in case of non-compliance. For example, many products, from those with relatively limited users such as cranes and power supplies to products that play a significant role in daily life, such as fire extinguishers, white goods, and computer components, fall under the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Technology. Therefore, the Ministry is authorized in the rules, inspections, and sanctions to be applied to these products.
What is the Legislation Regarding Products Under the Ministry’s Responsibility?
The Ministry has issued the Regulation on Market Surveillance and Inspection of the Ministry of Industry and Technology (“Regulation”), published in the Official Gazette on 14.07.2021, to determine the procedures and principles of market surveillance and inspection and the measures to be taken to ensure human health and safety, consumer protection, environmental protection, public safety, and the supply or availability of appropriate and safe products in the market. Additionally, the Ministry shares the list of products and product groups under its responsibility on its official website.
What are the Types of Non-Compliance Under the Regulation?
When Article 13 of the Regulation, titled “Risk Assessment,” is examined, it is accepted that there are sufficient grounds for the Ministry to conduct a risk assessment if the following non-compliances are detected:
- Absence, incompleteness, or incorrect use of the conformity mark, technical file, label, instructions, and related documents required by the technical regulation for the product.
- Absence of the model, batch, and serial numbers or other distinguishing information required by the legislation on the product in a visible and legible manner, or if the product’s size or nature does not allow this, the absence of such information on the product’s packaging or accompanying document.
- Failure to indicate the manufacturer’s or importer’s name, registered trade name, or trademark and contact address on the product, or if this is not possible, on the product’s packaging or accompanying document, as required by the legislation.
- Failure to provide necessary information, assembly, usage, and maintenance instructions, and safety rules in Turkish for end-users regarding the risks the product may pose.
The Ministry frequently detects non-compliant products through its own market inspections or complaints received. For example, during inspections, the Ministry may find that a water pump lacks the claimed feature, a refrigerator’s energy consumption class is incorrectly determined by the manufacturer or importer, or a machine lacks necessary safety test results and reports required for market release. These are examples of formal non-compliances. Formal non-compliance refers to issues not with the product itself but with missing test reports, incorrect labels, etc. However, whether a non-compliance is considered formal is at the Ministry’s discretion.
If there is sufficient reason to believe that the product poses a risk to human health, life and property safety, environmental, animal and plant health, consumer protection, or energy efficiency, the product is considered a risk-bearing product. For example, a white good harmful to human health or an electrical product with a leakage in its electrical installation can be cited as examples. Whether a product is a risk-bearing product is also at the Ministry’s discretion.
What Measures Should Importers and Manufacturers Take in Case of Non-Compliance?
In case of formal non-compliance, the relevant institution requests the manufacturer or importer to rectify the non-compliance. If this is not done, the institution may require the manufacturer or importer to take appropriate and necessary measures as stipulated in Law No. 7223. The manufacturer or importer is obliged to apply to the relevant institution within 10 business days from the notification of the institution’s request, along with a corrective action plan. The corrective action plan includes the measures the manufacturer or importer will take to rectify the non-compliance and how they will implement these measures. After the corrective action plan is submitted, the institution evaluates it and, if necessary, approves it with changes, granting the manufacturer and/or importer a 6-month correction period to implement the plan.
For risk-bearing products, a 10-business-day period is also provided for submitting the corrective action plan. However, merely submitting the plan within this period is not sufficient. The corrective action plan must include at least the following:
- Information identifying the product (brand, model, serial number, etc.) and a clear description of the issue requiring the measure.
- Measures to be taken to eliminate the risk.
- Methods to inform distributors and how measures will be applied to products held by distributors.
- Method of notifying individuals at risk about the risks.
- If individuals at risk are to be directly informed, documents showing that all such individuals can be reached.
- Corrective measures to eliminate the product’s risk.
- If the product cannot be corrected, the method of disposal or rendering the product non-functional in accordance with relevant legislation.
For example, the plan should include actions such as completing missing tests, recalling defective products, and correcting incorrect product labels at all dealers, along with how and within what timeframe these actions will be carried out by the manufacturer or importer.
What Sanctions Can the Ministry Impose if Non-Compliance is Not Rectified?
Under Article 17 of the Regulation, if the Ministry believes there are strong indications that a product poses a serious risk, it may temporarily suspend the product’s release to the market and/or its availability in the market until inspections are completed. However, this is a precautionary measure, not a sanction. The Regulation stipulates that such precautionary measures should not exceed 4 days unless tests and inspections require a longer period. If the product is found to be safe after inspection, the temporary suspension is automatically lifted.
Additionally, the Ministry has the authority to take various measures under the relevant legislation. For example, the Ministry may:
- Require risk-bearing products to be marked with appropriate, clear, and easily understandable Turkish warnings and immediately suspend the release of products posing serious risks.
- Prevent products from being made available on the market, withdraw them, and recall them.
- Warn end-users about the risks posed by the product.
- Dispose of or render products non-functional under appropriate conditions and suspend their recommendation and display.
Conclusion
Today, all products released to the market by commercial enterprises must comply with numerous technical regulations to ensure they do not pose risks. In case of any non-compliance, the relevant commercial enterprise (manufacturer or importer) must first plan measures to rectify the non-compliance and submit this plan to the Ministry. If the measures taken by the commercial enterprise are not reported to the Ministry on time or if the non-compliance is not rectified within the period specified in the corrective action plan, the Ministry may impose significant sanctions, such as recalling the product from the market or suspending its release. Therefore, it is crucial for manufacturers and importers to adhere to the deadlines specified in the Regulation to avoid serious sanctions and financial losses in case of non-compliance in products under the Ministry’s responsibility.
Ender Ünal
Attorney At Law